Up to 300,000 Sudanese people are expected to cross the Egyptian border and will need humanitarian assistance. Humanity & Inclusion is prepared to aid refugees and host communities. Local teams note that between 20 and 25% of the refugees are persons with disabilities. 

Sudan crisis

On April 15 2023, armed clashes erupted suddenly between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, due to power struggles between their commanders. Since then, clashes have turned into all-out conflict in several cities, plunging the country into chaos.

Hundreds of people have died and thousands more have been injured, with new casualties every day. The United Nations estimates that more than 100,000 refugees have already fled to neighboring countries and that as many as 800,000 might flee Sudan in the coming weeks.

Egypt: a primary destination for Sudanese refugees

Egypt has become the primary destination for people fleeing the conflict in Sudan that started on April 15th, with 42,300 arrivals so far, and the potential to receive as many as 300,000 refugees over the next six months.

The individuals leaving Sudan arrive at the Egyptian border after a perilous journey through desert roads. They then face a lengthy wait at the border, which typically takes several days. They are in dire need of food, water, shelter, essential items, healthcare, and psychosocial support.

Humanity & Inclusion has been monitoring the arrival of new refugees from Sudan over the past two weeks. Teams are preparing to launch an emergency intervention with local partners to respond to the refugees' urgent basic needs, and to support the most vulnerable members of their host communities. Teams estimate that 25% of Sudanese refugees have a disability, making it essential for the humanitarian response to be inclusive.

"Most of the Sudanese refugees are in Aswan, the main city in Egypt once you cross the border, and surrounding areas," says Caroline Dauber, Country Manager in Egypt. "They are primarily composed of older people, women, and children. We are beginning to see people settling in the streets and occupying school buildings, as affordable and available accommodation is becoming scarce. The pressure on the host community is increasing, resulting in rising prices and strain on services. The situation is worrisome, and humanitarian aid needs to be organized quickly."

The number of refugees at the border is increasing. They have no access to food, water, or sanitation facilities. Currently, only the Egyptian Red Crescent intervenes. The most urgent needs are in this area.

In Aswan, people also require access to food, water, medical assistance, and shelter. We are observing more and more people who are traumatized. They have experienced fighting, lost family members during their trip, and suffer from a lot of anxiety and stress.

How Humanity & Inclusion can make a difference

In Aswan, and in the Greater Cairo Region, teams are proposing activities through partnerships with local organizations:

• Financial and technical support to complement the medical assistance provided by our partners.
• Rehabilitation and psychosocial support services
• Cash assistance

Given the high proportion of persons with disabilities among the refugees, teams propose to advise and train humanitarian organizations to better include this population of refugees in their emergency responses—a common action by Humanity & Inclusion, supporting the wider humanitarian community, and something teams almost systematically propose in emergency situations.

Objectives

• Respond to the immediate healthcare needs of 4,300 women, children, aging adults, persons with disabilities, and men.
• Respond to the immediate basic needs of 1,400 newly arrived households in Egypt,
• Ensure that the inter-agency emergency response plan addresses the needs of persons with disabilities who are on the move.

Experience with Sudanese refugees

Humanity & Inclusion in Egypt has been assisting refugees (including those from Sudan), migrants, and host communities for years through the following projects:

• COVID response with the “B-Safe program.” This project supported Egyptians living in extreme situations of vulnerability, as well as refugees and migrants in the Greater Cairo region. Teams provided food and cash assistance, and business recovery support.
• Early detection of disability or developmental delay and early intervention for Egyptians, refugees and migrants children in Greater Cairo:
• Detect the risk of developmental delay or disability in a child, refer them for pediatric consultations and services, and provide cognitive stimulation programs: Between 2019 and 2022, staff diagnosed developmental delays or disabilities in 1,200 children, who have since benefitted from early interventions.
• Psychosocial support for mothers (most of whom are divorced or alone) with a child with a disability to assert their rights.

Teams in Egypt have recently started a new project that will complement the activities mentioned above, including:

• Access to education and protection for Egyptians, refugees, and migrant children
• Strengthening economic support for mothers.

Image: A Sudanese girl from the host community in Egypt takes part in a session with a goal to at expand her attention span and hand-eye coordination. This was organized by Humanity & Inclusion’s Khotwat Project for Early Detection and Early Intervention. ©HI/Noha.K 2022

Humanity & Inclusion's Racheal Njiru and Kazem Hemeda were among 53 Hilton Prize Scholars selected for the 2021 Hilton Humanitarian Prize Laureate Virtual Leadership Institute, in partnership with Atlas Corps. The virtual leadership training opportunity provides professional development to emerging social change leaders exclusively within the Prize Laureate community.

Racheal has worked for two years as a Disability Inclusive Project Manager at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. Kazem has worked for Humanity & Inclusion since 2015 and is currently the Deputy Country Manager for Egypt.

Q: Can you tell us more about the Hilton Leadership Institute?

Racheal: It was an 8-month leadership training that involved doing assignments online, meeting online with other scholars weekly and we also had peer coaching calls. Of course, I still had to continue with my job. It was very demanding, so I had to organize my time very well and prioritize tasks.

I was very humbled to represent Humanity & Inclusion in the program. There were just the two of us, Kazem and I. With every scholar I managed to talk to, I made sure I talked about Humanity & Inclusion, what we do globally and in Kenya. So, it was an opportunity to showcase Humanity & Inclusion, and I actually found quite a lot of them were aware of our organization.

I want to express my gratitude to the Hilton Leadership Institute and Atlas Corps. I am privileged to have been part of the Institute’s program. It was very, very inspiring. I hope there will be more opportunities for other Humanity & Inclusion colleagues to equally participate in this kind of programs.

Kazem: I felt thrilled for the experience, and proud to be representing Humanity & Inclusion at this prestigious program. Throughout the 8-month long program, I learned about the missions of other international humanitarian organizations, and I was delighted to engage in conversations with other program colleagues about including persons with disabilities in their respective interventions. I also learned from their innovations and developed a better understanding about the different contexts, challenges and opportunities in different parts of the world. Having this global perspective, I became more interested in learning about Humanity & Inclusion's global work.

Q: Tell us about your capstone project.

Rachael: My project was on facilitating the inclusion of persons with disabilities in socioeconomic development in Kakuma refugee camp and the hosting community. I've been working with persons with disabilities who are in business and I've seen quite a number of barriers. I wanted to look at how systemic change could bring some support to refugees with disabilities in the camp: to identify them and their needs, and target them for certain services that can improve their lives. I did not finish everything in my leadership project, but in my current job the project continues.

Kazem: I will develop a simulation game that will deepen the understanding and commitment of Humanity & Inclusion’s Egypt team to intersectionality and our Disability, Gender, Age institutional policy with funding that I received through a $2,000 "community impact grant" from the program.

Q: What are the key lessons that you have learned and that you can apply in your everyday work?

Racheal: The most important thing that I have learned is that sometimes, as leaders, we are under too much pressure. We have to do our work, ensure that our teams are delivering, both according to our organization’s mandate as well as donor expectations. But we forget about developing ourselves as leaders. I plan to be more aware of myself, to try and develop myself, become better and see how I can develop my team and others.

It's very interesting to actually know that there's so many other people who are doing humanitarian acts across the globe, to know that I'm not the only humanitarian worker who is working very hard to ensure that we are able to support persons with disabilities or marginalized people to have a better livelihood.

In addition to that, I was able to understand in very simple terms the aspect of intersectionality: to identify and recognize that the population we work with face many complex issues that make them even more vulnerable than others.

Kazem: Some of the key things I learned include tactics for leading successful movements, the applications for the concept of intersectionality, as well as a lot of personal development notions and practices such as self-compassion, conflict management styles, strategies for personal resilience, and strategies for remote working.I will exercise the leadership skills I learned through my day-to-day work. I became more self-aware, more capable of addressing conflicts, offering coaching, and more able to deal with stress.

Second, I am implementing a "leadership project" that aims to promote intersectionality among Humanity & Inclusion's operations in Egypt.

Q: Why is inclusion so important?

Racheal: One thing that I always say is that inclusion is not just a Humanity & Inclusion issue. When people or partners want to construct accessible buildings they always think of approaching HI. Inclusion is more than construction of accessible buildings it should be embraced using the twin track approach and partners should be in inclusion in the entire project cycle duration. Humanity & Inclusion will always offer the technical support and expertise to our partners whenever they need it. So, I think if people look at it that way, then we can be able to move forward in the journey of inclusion.

Kazem: Inclusion is a value that humanity needs to thrive in today's world of complex problems. Inclusion means that everybody, including vulnerable populations, have a fair chance to live in dignity, realize their potential and contribute to an equitable and sustainable development.

Q: What motivates you and your work?

Racheal: I love community work. I felt in my heart before joining campus that I wanted to serve humanity and I wanted to be empowered with knowledge on how to do that. What motivates me in my work, is when I am able to see a positive change in someone’s life since I started interacting with them.

Kazem: Despite the challenges we face every day, I motivate myself by remembering that we, as an organization, promote the values of humanity and inclusion, and that we can contribute to making the lives of marginalized and vulnerable people better and happier. This is, indeed, a meaningful mission.

Q: Is there a certain moment or person that stands out in your time at Humanity & Inclusion?

Racheal: In March 2020, when Covid-19 hit, I personally felt very discouraged. I was afraid that all of the effort invested into the project I had been implementing was going to go down the drain. Most of our project participants experienced their businesses being affected by COVID. We got a request from our donor—UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)—to develop a concept on the recovery of the businesses that had been affected by COVID-19 and how to cushion them from the effects of the pandemic for six months. With that funding, we were able to support project participants to be able to absorb the economic shock and survive during Covid-19.

One project participant really impressed me: A lady who has a contract to supply charcoal each month to an organization. She was able to save money and constructed rental houses. She made me look at life in a very different way. She did not get discouraged because of Covid-19 pandemic instead, she looked at how was she would be able to support herself then and in the future. Thanks to the business grant we provided to her and the business development trainings that she received, she was able to save money and get herself another income stream.

Kazem: One of the memorable moments was the closing ceremony of the IDMAG—Idmag is Arabic for “inclusion”—project, which I had the honor to manage for five years. The project aimed to improve youth with disabilities' access to livelihood opportunities and social services. I felt very happy to listen to the positive speech delivered by the Minister of Social Solidarity at the event. The speech gave me hope that the impact of IDMAG project was not limited to the local communities it served, but rather, it would extend nationally.

Q: Why is it important for people to support Humanity & Inclusion's work and the communities we serve?

Racheal: We serve a very unique population of persons with disabilities and vulnerable populations, and we are in the business of ensuring that their lives are improved. We promote their dignity in our different projects. We are very keen on matters regarding inclusion. We want to see persons with disabilities taking different positions in leadership and bringing change. We also ensure that we support more partners to be more inclusive and to understand and apply intentional inclusion in their programming.

The communities we serve are happy that Humanity & Inclusion is providing different services. Right now, in Kakuma, we have rehabilitation, inclusive education and livelihood projects. What is Humanity & Inclusion trying to do? We're trying to promote independence for everyone. Because you would wish that persons with disabilities are able to be empowered economically, empowered in education and also are able to be functionally independent. It’s this holistic approach that we want to look at, and we hope that we'll keep getting the support from our donors to be able to continue doing this noble task.

Kazem: In my opinion, Humanity & Inclusion is a unique organization that capitalizes in its enormous technical expertise and talented team to empower persons with disabilities and vulnerable groups to assert their rights. At the same time, Humanity & Inclusion supports a multitude of stakeholders, including service providers and governments, to become inclusive and responsive to the needs and priorities of vulnerable groups. This twin-track approach has proven effective as it leaves the served communities with increased capability ownership for their own development.

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In Egypt, Humanity & Inclusion continues to run programs under the operating name "Handicap International." 

Humanity & Inclusion in Egypt

Humanity & Inclusion has worked in Egypt since 2013, with a focus on improving the daily lives of people with disabilities and championing their rights. 

Social and political systems in Egypt are rapidly evolving. Egypt has been the scene of heightened political instability since the Arab Spring in 2011 and has yet to recover. Members of the Movement for the Rights of People with Disabilities, along with other stakeholders in Egyptian society, have all expressed their desire for change. They have successfully campaigned for the establishment of the National Council on Disability Affairs. However, since the end of 2016, the country has descended into a large economic and social crisis. Covid-19 has increased challenges. The situation is unpredictable and civil society organizations need continued support.

Areas of Intervention

• Early childhood development 
• Inclusive education 
• Economic inclusion
• Disability rights and awareness
• Social inclusion

Humanity & Inclusion's 23-member team works with local actors and service providers to improve access of children to early detection of disabilities among toddlers and to provide early intervention services. In partnership with local and international organizations, staff provides technical support to ensure the inclusion of refugees and migrant children with disabilities to access protection and education services. 

Teams are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, with efforts to prevent the virus and mitigate its socio-economic impact. Humanity & Inclusion provides households with food and cash assistance.

In the Asyut governorate, Humanity & Inclusion works to promote the economic empowerment of households of persons with disabilities by providing support to their businesses and promoting economic inclusion. 

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Our Past Work 

Our operations in Egypt have been aiming to promote a culture that is inclusive of people with disabilities. Our work continues to evolve to meet the needs of the communities where we serve.

Read on to learn more about our past work in Egypt and consider investing in our future.

Support Organizations for People with Disabilities (OPDs or DPOs)

Humanity & Inclusion began collaborating with organizations for people with disabilities to enhance their capacity to defend their rights and monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

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WASHINGTON - Handicap International has deployed two specialized emergency response teams to Tunisia and Egypt to assist the tens of thousands of people fleeing the fighting in Libya.